155 -- New Politics -- Friday, July 18, 2014 -- Merriweather Post Pavilion -- Columbia, MD

Walking into the New Politics show, I was already in a good mood.  Minor as it sounds, I found it so satisfying that Merriweather posted exact set times for the three bands on the phone, their website, and the ticket window.  All venues should do that -- or at least one of the three.  I was also happy to have gotten upgraded from a lawn seat to the front row for less than $20 the day of the concert!

The actual show was far from perfect, but in general, good vibes continued throughout…

--- The standing-room-only crowd I'm in is pumped for songs they don't even know.  Awesome.

--- The guy in front of me has a baseball cap from BradPaisley.com.  Question mark.

--- Please “Give Me Hope” that the whole night will not be destroyed that by the eardrum-thudding bass that swallowed that entire song.  The next song, “Berlin,” talks about a heart exploding – it feels like a different part of the body...

--- The band is doing everything they can to ingratiate themselves with the crowd despite the sound.  Omg, lead singer David Boyd just did a ten-second crowd hand stand while singing!!!  Don’t even care that I can’t recognize any lyrics.

--- Whatever dubsteppy junk this is is fine because Boyd is doing The Worm, The Spinning Worm, and a Lyric-Linked No-Hand Handstand!!!

--- “Just Like Me”: whoa, I can recognize actual words.  Helps when you have nursery-rhyme-simple lyrics.

--- “We're from Copenhagen, which you may not know much.  If you go home and don't remember us much, no worries.  Frankly, that sounds about right.  We still want to say, though: follow what you believe in.  Don’t let anyone stop your dreams.”  Humble inspiration: nice.

--- “Harlem”!  They added this strange Nirvana ending which did not seem to fit.  As usual, though, that became irrelevant, as they were able to charm even the people in the back out of their seats.

--- If New Politics developed vocals, gravitas, and vulnerability, they'd be dangerous.

Grade: B+